Ripple Effect
by Drake0042
Summary: **Uncompleted - currently canceled**   Even a small change can have unintended consequences, which will lead Naruto and Hinata down a path neither of them expected. NxH.


((A/N – finally, the new version. Major changes, but the concept remains. Starts sometime between chapters 402 and 403 of the manga. Expect spoilers. Even if you read the first version, read this one from the top)

And the disclaimer – Everything in this is the property of Masashi Kishimoto…Except for the parts that aren't))

"You say you want peace?" Danzo eyed the orange masked figure wearily. Being called out this late at night, only to be asked such trivial questions – his patience was wearing thin.

"Why else would I work with you?" Danzo replied flatly. "What do you want, Madara?"

"I can give you Uchiha." Danzo turned to look at the Akatsuski founder. "All I want is the Vessel."

The Elder scoffed. "You know as well as I do that the boy is more valuable to me then the Uchiha. Why should I even consider?"

"I am sure you have heard of his victory against Itachi, yes?" Danzo nodded in reply. "Then you also no doubt know that he has obtained the Mangekyo." Again, Danzo gave an affirmative nod. "The boy is progressing with it at an alarming rate."

"How alarming?"

The cloaked figure shrugged casually. "He could easily control the fox, if given the technique."

Danzo contemplated this fact for a moment. It was a matter of risks, and they were great – everything he had worked for the last decade and a half - But the rewards… "How exactly, can you ensure I will obtain him?"

Behind his mask, Madara grinned. "I ensure nothing, except where he will be. It is up to you how you get him." He contemplated the bandaged figure before him for a moment. "Do you think you're little council will go along with your plan?"

"I do not need there approval for anything," Danzo replied "Only their ignorance. When do you want the Vessel?"

Madara turned and began to walk a way before answering. "Don't worry – you'll know."

_"The law of unintended consequences pushes us ceaselessly through the years, permitting no pause for perspective.__" - Richard Schickel_

"A Summit?" Tsunade looked up from her pile of paperwork at her assistant, Shizune. Sighing, the blonde Hokage accepted the invitation. "Since when was there a Summit at this time of year?"

The Black-haired Jonin shrugged as she handed her boss the invitation. "I sent out some inquires to a few of the nearby lords – they got the same thing. It seems to be organized by a Lord from near the Land of Rivers."

Tsunade had already opened the envelope and begun to look over the letter, which seemed official enough. "What about backers?" With an event of this scale, unless the host was a major power, they usually had backers to help fund it – trade guilds, clans, fellow lords – anybody willing to help foot the bill.

"Looks like several trade guilds." Shizune explained which made sense – the letter outlined it as an Economic summit of some sort. "The Village could use the economic boost…" Beyond military support, the village needed revenue. Missions from civilians could only provide so much support, and the Daimyo was only willing to pledge so much. In the past, where the need for protection was higher and the loyalty of a village more crucial, they could have asked for more backing. But in this day and age, with the villages themselves the targets, the need to back them waned.

"Yeah, yeah…" Tsunade replied, cutting off her assistant. For a moment, she simply stared at the invitation. "Being that close to the Rain Village though… Who's clear this week?" The Village had a policy of giving its shinobi a break after most higher-level mission, outside of special circumstances. With the possibility of passing this close to known enemy territory, she would need the best she could get.

Shizune quickly retrieved a roster from a nearby desk and quickly began flipping through it. "Most of the Chunin and Jonin are out or on leave." She flipped though the list quickly looking for anybody who was open and could actually protect the Hokage. She finally stopped on a page. "It looks like Hinata Hyuuga and Naruto just finished their leave."

"Naruto?" Tsunade considered it for a moment. She knew what he was capable of, but with other people se was less sure. "Does he have any history with Hinata?"

"Not really." Shizune replied, already familiar with the young blondes file. "What interaction they have had outside of missions is apparently favorable though. Mission interaction is pretty much unknown though."

"Well," Tsunade pulled out a pair of documents – order documents. "It looks like we're about to find out."

A few minutes later, the streets of Konoha echoed with a name it had already heard countless times before.

"Naruto!"

Naruto Uzumaki looked up from his walk to see his old teammate, Sakura Haruno, coming down the street toward him. Even in the crowd, she was easy to spot thanks to her pink hair, though he doubted he was very stealthy himself with blonde hair and an orange outfit. Pushing the thought aside, he began to wave to his old friend. Ah, Sakura – you'd think after knowing her for over two years, he'd have managed to land an actual date, but no – every one of his advances had been shot down.

Then again, he's had more important things to worry about. "Over here!" the pink-haired kunoichi finally made her way though the crowd to the blonde. Maybe she was finally going to ask him out…

"Got a new mission order for you," Sakura explained as she handed Naruto the message.

Damn – oh well, always next time. "What's the mission?" Naruto unfolded the paper and scanned over it quickly. It looked surprisingly short.

"Don't know." Sakura explained. "All I know is I'm supposed to tell you and Hinata to head to the Hokage's Office." Naruto found that to be highly unusual. Usually mission orders were given out by one of the Hokage's assistants or some of Chuunin, depending on the level – being summoned like this was….

"Strange." Naruto pocketed the note. "Well then, I guess I should get going. Later."

"Hey," Naruto paused as Sakura spoke up. "Know where Hinata is? She's got the same order and Finding you was a pain."

Naruto shrugged. "Probably at her house. From what Kiba's told me, she spends most of her spare time training." With that tidbit, Naruto waved goodbye and headed off toward the Hokage Tower. Sakura was left standing in the middle of the road without any new information.

"I already knew that, you idiot!" The pink-haired girl shouted before heading toward the Hyuuga compound.

As she approached the compound, she could swear she heard the sounds of combat training.

"Again!" Hiashi watched as his eldest daughter once again dropped in the starting stance for her form. After a moment, she launched into a series of choreographed strikes, each one designed to help hone her skills in Juuken, the Hyuuga's signature Gentle Fist technique. As Hiashi watched her finish, a member of the branch house ended the courtyard. "Yes?"

"A messenger from the Hokage is here." The Shinobi – most likely a chuunin – replied. "She wishes to speak to Lady Hinata."

"Very well." The head of the Hyuuga household turned to his eldest daughter. "Hinata"

"Yes, father?" Despite having been practicing continuously all morning, she stood ready, only her breathing and the slight glisten of sweat betraying her.

"The speed is good, but the accuracy still needs work. Remember that Juuken relies on accuracy – you cannot afford to miss." Hiashi paused for a moment in contemplation before letting out a sigh. "Go clean yourself up before meeting our guest. That's all for today." Hinata bowed before making her way out of the courtyard, leaving the chuunin and her father alone.

"Permission to speak freely, sir?" Hiashi considered the chuunin briefly before nodding for him to continue. "Your relationship with Hinata seems to have improved quite a bit."

"So I've been told." Hiashi sighed. He would admit, he'd been a little… harsh with his daughter up until her first Chuunin exam, but he'd always acted with her good in mind. It just took him a while to realize he was going about it the wrong way.

His wife helped in that regard. She had always given him an earful about how he treated Hinata, and up until the chuunin exams, he'd always had a response. But after the exams – he had run out of excuses. "Anything else?"

The chuunin nodded. "Several lords have sent requests for you're audience, as well as the Yatsuru matter to deal with." Hiashi let out another sigh – his work was never done.

In the entry hall of the Hyuuga Estate, Sakura milled about, trying to resist the urge to touch any of the interesting pieces of decorum. The walls were covered with strange ornaments and brightly covered tapestries. One mask in particular caught her attention. It was a bright red, shield shape with rather impressive horns. She wondered if they were made of ivory….

"That was a gift from the Northern Daimyo."

Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin, quickly pulling her hand away from the mask at the sudden voice. She turned to see a dark-haired woman entering the room, her dark blue kimono flowing gracefully as she walked. Sakura smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

The woman just laughed softly before turning her gaze onto Sakura. Part of Sakura's mind noted her dark-blue eyes as she stepped past her and lifted the mask gingerly off the wall. "Its quite old, if I recall correctly." She contemplated the mask for a moment before holding it up to her face. "Not very scary though, is it?" Getting nothing but a somewhat puzzled look from Sakura, the woman gave a small laugh and hung the mask back up.

Sakura studied the woman for a moment. "You're not quite like…"

"My husband?" the woman finished.

"… The other Hyuuga's" Sakura finished before doing a double-take. "Who are you again?" The woman smiled before giving a slight bow.

"I am Natsumi Hyuuga, Lady of the Hyuuga clan and wife of Hiashi Hyuuga." Lady Hyuuga considered Sakura's surprised expression. "I take it my behavior surprises you?"

Sakura bowed in turn – this was Hiashi's wife? "To be honest," Sakura replied. "Quite". That was an understatement. How did someone as cold as Hiashi Hyuuga marry somebody this warm? The lady replied with another amused smile.

"I get that quite a lot." Natsumi paused as she looked over her shoulder. "How long are you going to stand there, dear?" A small 'eep' came from behind Lady Hyuuga, much to Sakura's surprise. Standing in the doorway was the heir to the clan, Hinata Hyuuga, dressed in a kimono much like her mothers. Natsumi turned to face her daughter. "I think you're going to have to change again, my dear." She turned back to Sakura. "Am I right?"

"Unless she wants to accept a mission from the Hokage in that." Sakura replied. To be honest, it would be one of the most normal outfits she'd seen a mission accepted in – there was something seriously wrong with shinobi fashion…

"I-I'll go change." Hinata quickly replied before heading back the way she came, leaving her mother to contemplate her daughter with a sigh.

"Such a shy thing." Lady Hyuuga commented absent mindedly as she watched her daughter walk off. "But she's so sweet. I wish her father was easier on her…"

"Still that bad?" Sakura had heard stories about the Hyuuga clan, but it had sounded like things had improved….

"Oh, not since her first Chuunin exam!" Natsumi replied. "He's gotten much better about things. Still though, he's quite harsh on the girl." She paused for a moment. "Then again, he's harsh with just about everybody…"

"Well, its nice to here things have, uh, changed…" Sakura replied cautiously. She had never really had a mental image of what Lady Hyuuga was like, but what ever it would have been, it wasn't anything like the woman that was sitting in front of her.

Before Sakura could continue contemplating the matter any further, they were interrupted by the light tapping of feet on the wood floor. "Um…" Sakura turned at the voice, seeing Hinata entering the room in her trademark sweater. "You said something about a, um, mission?"

"It seems that you need to go meet with the Hokage." Natsumi replied before turning back to Sakura. "Was there anything else you needed?"

Sakura shook her head. "Actually, I should really be getting back to the Hokage's office." Sakura stood before bowing. "Thank you."

"Any time" Natsumi then turned to her daughter. "Hinata, please show our guest out as you leave."

"Alright." Hinata proceeded to lead Sakura out of the compound, past several sets of Branch house guards before they reached the front gate, where another pair let them out. As the pair of young kunoichi made their way down the street, both tried to think of some way to start idle chat and neither could think of anything. Surprisingly, Hinata was the one who finally broke the silence. "So, uh, what do you know about my mi-mission?"

Sakura couldn't help but start to grin as she remembered who else was assigned to the mission. Over the last 2 years or so, Sakura and some of the other girls had made a habit of teasing Hinata about her crush on everyone's favorite blonde loudmouth. While to most this would sound like something quite mean to do to a friend, the truth was it was just their way to try and encourage her – in a strange, twisted sort of way. "Oh, nothing much" Sakura explained nonchalantly. She had told Naruto that she didn't know anything, but that was just to get him to move faster – he would have never left until she had told him everything. "Just you and Naruto escorting Tsunade at a political Summit"

"Wha!?" Hinata couldn't help but start to flush. "M-me and N-Naruto?"

"Yep" Sakura replied before grinning slyly. "You know, this might be your chance to tell him how you feel."

Hinata quickly ran through several shades of red. "I-I couldn't!"

"Oh, come on, don't be shy!" Sakura encouraged her. "You'll never know how he feels if you don't ask!"

"It's not that." Hinata replied, her voice low. "It's not even the fact that he probably still likes you. Its….its that I don't know him."

"Don't know him?" Sakura echoed. This, coming from Naruto's one-girl (though she now suspected their might be a few more) Fan club? "You probably know more about Naruto then I do."

"Know I don't!" Hinata exclaimed as she stopped suddenly, her voice tinged with emotion. "All this time I've followed him, watched him, admired him, but I never approached him! I never tried to help him, even when everyone else abandoned him. I could have done something! I could have said something! Instead I just stood their and watched and did nothing!" At this point tears were streaming down her face. She hadn't meant to tell this to Sakura – or to anybody, for that matter – but now that she had started she had to finish it. "I just sat there and did nothing! I-I never tried to talk to him, or get to know him. I just watched him as he suffered…" Hinata stopped as she felt Sakura's hand on her shoulder.

"None of us tried too." Sakura replied soothingly. "At least you knew that he was worth knowing - Besides, it not too late to try and talk to him."

"B-but, he likes you, Sakura…." Hinata stammered as she tried to dry some of her tears.

"What?" Sakura asked. "Scared of a little competition?" Sakura sighed as Hinata nodded. "You can't just give up at the first sign of resistance! Do you really love him?"

"Yes!" Sakura smiled as she got the immediate answer.

"Do you want him to be happy?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to make him happy?"

"Yes!"

"Then go do it." Sakura stated flatly. "You're going to have him all to yourself for the next week – use it!"

"B-but I…." Hinata stopped as she saw Sakura's disapproving gaze. Hinata sighed. "I-I'll try."

"Alright then," Sakura replied, satisfied with the answer. "Let's get you cleaned up." As they started their way along again, Sakura felt something about what she said was just… off. Like part of her didn't want her to have told Hinata all of that. Shaking her head, she continued on her way.

Eventually, they found somewhere for Hinata to straighten herself out, and soon Sakura found that the shy Kunoichi was looking much better. "You alright?"

"I'll be fine." Hinata replied as she started walking. "Uh…thanks."

Sakura smiled. "No problem. You sure you'll be alright?" Before Hinata could respond, however, she was bowled over by an unmistakable orange and yellow blur.

"N-Naruto!?" Hinata stuttered as she stared up at the young Shinobi. His face was close enough to hers that she could feel his breath across her neck. Her face quickly turned crimson.

_'Yeah, she's fine'_ Sakura thought as she cracked her knuckles. "What do you think you're doing, you idiot!?"

"Ow." Naruto rubbed his head. "Sorry about that…" Naruto stopped as he saw who he was tangled up with. "Oh, hi Hinata." Unlike the girl, Naruto seemed unfazed by their sudden proximity.

"H-hi…" Hinata stammered, her brain having trouble functioning as she lost her self in a pair of blue orbs. _'….'_

"You going to have a chat or are you going to get off her?" Naruto smiled nervously at his old teammate before he started trying to detangle himself from the Hyuuga heir. "Okay…hold on."

"I'm s-sorry…" Hinata began to move at the same time Naruto did, resulting in both managing to trip over each other while already on the ground. "Sorry! Sorry!"

"Its alright, I'm fine…" Naruto replied as he rubbed the back of his head. '_how the hell did I get on the bottom though?' _Naruto's thoughts were quickly sidetracked as he noticed exactly who was on top of him. _'wow, Hinata's actually kind of…. Wait! No! No pervy thoughts! I will not turn into him!' _This, however, did not remain an issue for long, as Hinata removed herself from the entanglement with speed that would impress even the Fourth Hokage.

"You two alright?" Sakura asked. Both gave silent nodded in reply, stealing occasional glances towards the other, each for entirely different reasons. Sighing, Sakura continued. "Alright then, lets get going before we're any later." The rest of the trip to the Hokage's office was fortunately uneventful, allowing them to arrive at the Hokage's office only five minutes late. With practiced familiarity, Sakura rapped on the office door.

"Come in." The trio entered the office, seeing the older blonde woman seated behind her desk, shuffling papers. Tsunade decided to ignore their tardiness, considering she had just gotten back in herself. "Thank you Sakura, that'll be all for now." With a bow, Sakura left the room, leaving only the two Shinobi and the Hokage in the office. Clearing her throat, the Hokage started to explain the mission. "The two of you will be coming with me to a Political Summit near the Land of Rivers as my security detail. Due to the proximity to known Akatsuki territory and the profile of the event, this is a Class A mission." Tsunade paused for a moment as se waited for Naruto to finish his cheering before she continued. "One more thing. Naruto, I'm promoting you to Chuunin."

Naruto was still doing his own personal victory dance when she had said this, causing Naruto to do a double take. "Nani!? I haven't even taken the Exam!" He stopped for a moment. She was promoting him before he took the exam? "Are you even allowed to do that!?"

Tsunade stared at the boy for a moment before laughing. "Naruto, If I put you in the Chuunin exams, it would be a massacre. I've sent you on missions that I wouldn't send most Jonin on. You'll be fine. And, for the record – yes, I can." Did he really think he would go through the Chuunin exams again? At this point, she would have promoted him straight to Jonin if he thought he could handle the responsibility – He might have the skill, but he lacked both the battle and leadership experience for such a rank. "Any other questions?"

"Um, aren't Jonin usually assigned to A rank missions?" Hinata asked in her usually quite manner as Tsunade got Naruto to sit back down. The mission was simply enough – escort and protection. She'd done her share of them. She – along with most of her peers – knew the story about Naruto's trip to the Land of Waves, so he wasn't a newcomer to this sort of thing either. But this was different – they were escorting the Hokage, who – while not exactly defenseless – was a highly vulnerable target.

"Yes, they are. But…" Tsunade tapped on the Roster lying on her desk. "We're stretched thin right now. I can't afford to pull any Jonin from the frontline just to protect me." She grinned. "Besides, it shouldn't be anything you can't handle."

"Alright then!" Naruto said, having processed everything. "When do we leave?"

'Two days." Tsunade figured it would take about 4 days to travel to the summit. With it starting in a week, the timetable would give then a full day to scout the area.

"Alright!" Naruto was pumped. A-rank mission, just been promoted to Chuunin – it was a very good day. The only thing that would make it better was Sasuke bursting in repenting for his misdeeds along with a hoard of fan girls declaring their undying love – oh, and ramen, plenty of ramen. Becoming Hokage would also be good, but expecting two promotions in one day was just silly. Naruto quickly shoved the fantasy to the corner of his mind before jumping to his feet. "Alright, time to pack!"

"Not so fast." Tsunade replied, deflating Naruto's little bubble of enthusiasm. "Do you have a Kimono?"

"Huh?" Naruto replied. 'You mean like a Yukata?" Naruto had one of those for the festivals.

Tsunade sighed. "No. For an event like this, you need something formal. I figured you probably didn't have one." She quickly hit a buzzer and in a few moments Shizune entered. "Take these two out to get Kimono's for the Summit." She pointed at Naruto. "Make sure he doesn't buy something too horrible."

"But, Hokage-sama…" Hinata turned to the Hokage. "I already have a Kimono." Actually, she had several. Part of being the heir to the Hyuuga family was lots and lots of formal events and gatherings. Each one, invariably, called for a new Kimono. Thinking about it, she let out a sigh. Sometimes she thought her mother treated her like doll…

"I wasn't worried about you." Tsunade replied, taking a break from berating Naruto for arguing with Shizune over the matter. "But maybe you can help this knucklehead pick out something decent."

"Enough, Naruto!" Shizune yelled at the blonde boy. "We're going and that's final!"

"Oh no!" Naruto replied emphatically. "I'm not going there again."

"Oh, please." Shizune replied as she grabbed him by the arm. "I doubt he even works there anymore."

"I don't think it matters." Naruto replied, resigning himself to his fate. Hinata, confused, simply followed them out of the office, closing the door behind her. After watching them leave, Tsunade hit the buzzer on her desk. "Somebody please send Sakura in" She took a moment to rub her forehead. "And some Sake…"

Naruto grumbled as he was dragged through the store, bright robes filling his vision. Some of them were quite nice. Some of the prices were insane though – 9 million Ryo!?! Weaving his way through the store, he finally found Hinata examining one particularly exquisite article. "Hey, Hinata-chan. Are Kimono always this much?"

"W-Wha?" Hinata tried not jump at the sudden question – she had been trying to stop her mind from somehow contorting this into something it wasn't that she hadn't beeen paying attention. Instead, she decided to focus on the question. "Um… yes, though they can often be quite a bit more. You usually don't have to buy one very often though…" Hinata paused as she noticed Naruto staring at his frog wallet. Was that the issue? "um…. Naruto-Kun, are you worried about your wallet?"

"I was just trying to figure out if I had enough to buy a nice one." Naruto quickly fished through his pockets and pulled out a little black book – His check book, Hinata guessed – after all, what type of shinobi would keep all of his money on him? With even D Rank missions usually netting around 20,000 Ryo, one would quickly fill their wallet. She watched as he flipped though before stopping on one page half-way through it and turning it toward her. "Is, uh, this a lot?"

Hinata took a look at the page and went wide eyed. That was his bank balance? Despite being a Hyuuga, Hinata had a decent grasp of financial matters – her father only gave her a relatively small stipend, claiming it would help her learn financial responsibility. It was a fairly decent amount, but Naruto's…. that was a lot of zeros! "Is this, uh, from all your missions?"

"And the stipend the village gives me." Naruto added. "That usually ends up being enough for the apartment and stuff. I really don't have much to spend money on, actually…" Hinata nodded. That was evident from his account. Naruto continued unabated. "So, is this enough to buy a nice one?"

"Y-yes." Hinata replied. "You should be fine." Hinata watched as he thanked her for the help and then started searching through the displays. Of all the worries he had always had about Naruto, money was one of the big ones. She never considered the fact that, with his only hobby being training, he might be more financially secure then she thought. Smiling, she went back to searching through the displays. She did eventually come across one that caught her eye. After mulling it over in her head, she went to ask the owner if she could try it on. As she headed toward the changing room, she sighed. Perhaps she was more like her mother then she thought.

Shizune had decided to simply leave the two of them to their own devices when it came to searching for their outfits. The store was too large to follow them both around, and besides they were sixteen, not six - They could take care of themselves. "Hey Shizune!" Shizune turned to look at the Naruto as he approached her location outside Hinata's changing room – it had seemed like a logical enough spot to wait. They would have to trying the Kimono's on eventually.

"Yes, Naruto?"

"I have to get you to sign off on my outfit, right? Dress code and all that?" Naruto grinned as Shizune confirmed his suspicion. "I just found this great one over…"

"What color is it?"

"Huh?"

"What color is it?" Shizune repeated.

"Uh, orange…" Naruto replied. For some reason, he always found himself drawn to the color. He had never really thought about it though….

Shizune let out a sigh. "Naruto, you can't where something like that to an event like this."

"Really?" Naruto replied. "Well, what type of event is it?"

"It's a major political summit. Leaders and representatives of every major political, economic, and military power will probably be there. It's the type of place where the fate of nations is decided." Okay, she was exaggerating it a bit, but it was best to get him used to the idea now.

Fate of nations? Naruto mulled it over. He started considering that, maybe, this could be interesting.

"Um, I'm coming out…" Both turned in time to see Hinata step out of the changing room, at which time Naruto's jaw quickly found a comfortable spot on the floor. She was wearing a dark blue Kimono, Patterns of flowers flowing across it. The long, wide sleeves danced around her as she continued to struggle with the lighter colored obi, long hair draping over her shoulders as she tried in vain to see what she was doing. "I'm having some trouble with the obi on my own…" She froze as she saw Naruto gaping at her before she began to blush.

Naruto just stared in awe.

This could be _very_ interesting…

((A/N –a Ryo is the currency they us in Naruto, at about 10 yen to the Ryo.))


End file.
